Re: Separate PK in Jxn Tbl?
Date: Tue, 29 Jan 2008 10:04:32 -0600
Message-ID: <J8Inj.5110$so6.2697_at_newssvr19.news.prodigy.net>
"Roy Hann" <specially_at_processed.almost.meat> wrote in message
news:r5ednW1jz_SntALanZ2dnUVZ8sijnZ2d_at_pipex.net...
> "David Cressey" <cressey73_at_verizon.net> wrote in message
> news:zkFnj.391$Be.9_at_trndny04...
>> >>> Here in the UK I avoid using the word 'moot' when trying to write >>> 'plain English' simply because the US usage has obscured the UK usage >>> i.e. it can cause confusion. >>> >> I'm completely unfamiliar with the UK usage of "moot". What is it? >
> Having lived for several decades on both sides of the Atlantic I think I
> know. In America the word tends mean "having no practical
> significance"--a meaning which is borrowed from the legal profession I
> think. In the UK to say something is moot is to say it is "still subject
> to discussion" or "undecided".
>
I think the reason for the two meanings of the word comes from the legal profession, where law students would would hold "moot court" of previously-decided cases. Hence, both "debatable" and "previously-decided" seem to be derived from its original meaning.
From Wikipedia, "Mootness" article:
"In United States law, a matter is moot if further legal proceedings with regard to it can have no effect, or events have placed it beyond the reach of the law. Thereby the matter has been deprived of practical significance or rendered purely academic. This is different from the ordinary British meaning of "moot," which means "to raise an issue." The shift in usage was first observed in the United States." Received on Tue Jan 29 2008 - 17:04:32 CET